Summer 2013

Breaking the Bonds of AddictionFrank’s story & the history of HGM’s recovery programming.

Part 2 of “Celebrating 15 Years of Service”

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Not to us, O LORD,

not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. (Psalm 115:1)

started smoking, drinking, and using marijuana at age 11. Through my life I moved around a lot. I was a child of a divorced family. As soon as I graduated high school, I joined the military to better myself. When I got into the military the drugs and alcohol got worse. I then got kicked out of the navy because I couldn’t pass a drug test.

I first got exposed to recovery groups during that time and from the time I was 20 years old up until now (46) I struggled with sobriety. Before I found the Lord this last

year, I hadn’t taken a sober breath for 8 years. My alcohol and drug use, along with depression and other mental health issues, cost me my credit and many jobs and hurt

my relationships.

Over the last few years, it got really bad; I was depressed all the time. I could not and

would not work. My father supported me. I made money any way I could, scrapping and picking up odd jobs. I became very isolated and angry, bitter and depressed. One night I got angry at my

father and punched his windshield. After I hit the windshield that night, I answered the door to six policemen with their guns drawn on me, because my father told them I can be violent and there were guns in the house. They handcuffed me and sent me to jail where I started withdrawing.

When I was withdrawing, my blood pressure went through the ceiling and they had to monitor me and give me medicine just to keep my heart from bursting.

Breaking the Bonds of AddictionPart Two of “Celebrating 15 Years of Service” (Read Part One at www.hopegospelmission.org)

When I was let out, I had legal issues and I needed medicine. I tried to find a way to get the medicine. I was also suicidal again at the time and I ended up at a local hospital where I spent four days in the psych ward. They determined they could no longer do anything for me so they let me go. I left the hospital still not knowing how to get my medicine or where to go and I got very fearful. I didn’t want to be suicidal anymore. Before I left the building that day, I stopped before the door because of the fear, I was overcome with fear. I asked God to give me the strength to walk out the door and not hurt another person or myself. And since that day on I never smoked another cigarette, had a drink, or did drugs. Since then all I’ve been doing is finding a friend in Jesus. Then I came to Hope Gospel Mission. The Mission has given me everything I needed just to get through this. Today I’m able to get my medicine and get my physical and mental self together.

Frank was able to find the help he needed at Hope Gospel Mission. But help like this wasn’t always available.

The Mission was founded by Mark Donnelly, a Christian businessman from Eau Claire, in December of 1998. Mark had a burden for the homeless and saw the need in the community for a place they could go to get help both physically and spiritually. Mark’s wife Cindy came up with the name for the Mission. Since there is hope for all in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it was named Hope Gospel Mission.

In the first year, the Mission served only men by providing emergency shelter, food and clothing. By

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Join us for a free meal and an inspiring program on Tuesday September 24 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Florian Gardens in Eau Claire.

Learn about future plans, the exciting things happening at the Mission, and what God

has done in the lives of the homeless and poor you have helped us assist in the past year.

RSVP by calling us at 715-552-5566 or by visiting our website at www.hopegospelmission.org.

I have seen the Mission restore men’s and women’s confidence through the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ. He shows them their intrinsic value to Him because the program is rooted in Christ.

Brad Wiedenhoft Owner SourceCut Industries

It’s wonderful to have a place like Hope Gospel Mission in the Chippewa Valley to offer practical help, education, support and kindness - and the love of Christ to people in need. Congratulations on 15 years!”

Melinda G. Gardner Executive Director Apple Pregnancy Center

I believe that, with the guidance of the Lord, the staff that work with the residents have a part in their success. I believe in what the Mission

does, its vision, its motto and future plans.

Elice Seebandt Program Graduate & HGM Employee

The Vision of Hope Gospel Mission is both beautiful and powerful: To see the lives of the homeless and needy transformed for the glory of God, so they can be the people that God intended them to be! It is the vision I signed up for as the first stewardship director and is being lived out now more than at any other time in HGM history. With a steadfast focus and dependence on Jesus, I am convinced that the best days for Hope Gospel Mission are still ahead. Keep going!

Brent A. Hafele, M.A. President NewDay Nonprofit Solutions

the fall of 2001 the need for jobs for the residents became evident. A work program was started to address this need. A basic life skills program was also started to help people with their finances and hygiene.

As time went on we saw a number of our residents relapsing into drugs or alcohol problems and losing their jobs. Other residents could not find or keep a job due to lack of education or job training.

In November of 2003 we opened the Bargain Center to provide on-the-job training for our residents and as an additional source of revenue for the Mission. For the first time we were able to train our residents in-house before helping them obtain employment. In the fall of 2004 we opened the our Integrative Learning Center to help our residents catch up on basic math, reading and writing skills needed in the work place and in everyday life. In the fall of 2005 we opened the Ruth House, which can house up to 12 single homeless women. By 2006 our programming offered our residents a complete life change designed to break the cycle of homelessness. In 2006 we also opened our Building Hope re-use center to provide more job training for our residents. By 2010 we had run out of space at our Integrative Learning Center and we opened our Solomon Learning Center where we were now able to offer our residents more classes and also offer them the ability to get their GED’s if they didn’t have a high school diploma.

All of these steps were taken to improve our programming and offer life-change to those who, like Frank, were imprisoned by addictions, poverty, and homelessness. We thank God for how he has provided the right people, the facilities, the funding, the help from other missions and organizations, and the prayers of thousands of people.

However, seeing hurting people come to us every day with different needs, we knew there was still more we could do.

In our next issue you’ll learn about what God has been doing recently and our future plans to impact even more lives in the next five years. ♦

*Name & picture changed for privacy.

Join us for our Annual Banquet

Program Flowchart

Person helped andtaking appropriatenext steps in life.

SaFE ProgramApprox. 6 Months

Work Readiness ProgramApprox. 6 Months

Discipleship Transitions ProgramApprox. 12 Months

Short Stay ProgramOne to 30 days

Admitted intoShort Stay program

Signs commitment contract

Graduation

Program Completion

Person helped andtaking appropriatenext steps in life.

Person helped andtaking appropriatenext steps in life.

Hope Gospel MissionProgram Flowchart

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Moving UpWe recently celebrated Alex’s move into the Discipleship Transitions Program. This program is all about helping our residents transition from shelter living to independent living and applying what they have learned in our programs.

Alex now works full time and lives in our transitions home. He received a vehicle from Hope Gospel Mission’s Auto Sales program as a gift to help him be successful in his new life.

On the last Friday of the month we host a meal and a ceremony to recognize the

hard work that our program participants have put in. We welcome you to join us at 6:00 PM at our men’s shelter at 8 South Farwell Street to support our residents! ♦

Exciting Changes at Hope Gospel Mission

As of June first, Hope Gospel Mission has made some highly anticipated changes to our programming.

We have split our single two-year program into three separate programs that flow into one another. Residents will be able to make a commitment to one program at a time. This change, coupled with the culture changes we’ve been practicing for the last year, is expected to make it simpler for a new resident to enter our programs, allowing us to help more people.

The three programs are called the Stability and Foundational Education (SaFE) Program, the Work Readiness Program, and the Discipleship Transitions Program.

The first program, SaFE, focuses on education and bringing our residents up to a good standard of reading, writing, math comprehen-sion. During his time, residents will be equipped to earn their GED.

The second program, Work Readiness, focuses on work skills. We provide job training, job coaching, resume building, references for future employment, and other useful services for our residents so that they can find good, long term employment.

Discipleship Transitions, the third program, is a transitional housing program that helps the resident establish a firm founda-tion of success for the remainder of their life after graduation.

Hope Gospel Mission has signed a lease for our first transitional house. Managed by a house manager, this facility will host the residents in the Discipleship Transitions Program, where they will live semi-indepen-dently for up to one year.

Through your support, our residents receive free meals, clothing, a great living environment, caring staff and volunteers, job resources, counseling, addiction recovery, and much more. ♦

Thanks to the Eau Claire Community Foundation, Citizen’s Community Federal Bank, and Charter Bank for their support of Hope Gospel Mission.

Items We NeedHere are some important items that we need. To see a complete list, visit www.hopegospelmission.org and click on “Breaking the Bonds of Addiction” under the news. Please drop off any items on this list at 8 South Farwell Street in Eau Claire at any time.

$5 off your next purchase of $25 or more.

$25 off your next purchase of $100 or more.

Cannot be combined with other offers. Expires 9/15/2013.

Cannot be combined with other offers. Does not include appliances or non-coupon related items. Expires 9/15/2013.

2511 Moholt Dr, Eau Claire

2108 Western Ave, Eau Claire

facebook.com/hopebargaincenter

facebook.com/buildinghopeeauclaire

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Men’s One A Day ▪VitaminsWomen’s One A Day ▪VitaminsTwin Bladed ▪Disposable RazorsLaundry Soap ▪

Large Bars of Soap ▪Men’s Boxers (All ▪Sizes)Ibuprofen ▪Shampoo ▪Conditioner ▪Liquid body wash ▪

Gifts In Memory & In Honor Of We thank the following individuals for their financial support of the Mission in honor or in memory of a loved one or friend. Persons being honored or memorialized are in bold.

Marlene Alexander, Larry AlexanderAll Servicemen & Women, Deanna & Larry LiddellJeanne Bauer, Barbara BauerDelores Bowe, Gerald or Diane BoweGregory John Bredlau, Dennis BredlauWilfred G. Burlingame, LaVonne BurlingameJames M. Dahl (2), Barbara DahlHeide Egert-Budik, Gloria BudikAvis Carsleu, Baby Fey, Jim Fey, Jeannie Gonyer, Dennis & Karen WagnerLynn J. Geissler, Virginia M. GeisslerVernon Gullickson, Florence GullicksonGlen Hanson, Nickalos HansonRoger Hedrington, Elizabeth HedringtonOur 60th Anniversary, Carl & Irene HuntDave Johnson, J. & T. ArbuckleRod Kahl, Dennis & Karen WagnerPeter Larson, Ramona PurnellWalter J. Lynch, Lois LynchHarry & Margaret Meinecke, Barbara BauerJohn R. Metz, Phyllis MetzMy mom & my sister, Kevin ArnauldMichael Oliver, Mary G. OliverOur Beautiful Georgia, Paul & Bonnie JackHusband Don Purnell (2), Ramona PurnellMichael L. Reidt, Bill & Jane MauleRobert Sahmuth, Seth Sandstrom, Rick Smeltzer, Dennis & Karen WagnerNorma Smelzer, Mildred WagnerElzie Stetzer, My Mom, Margaret KoppEvelyn Townsend, Donald TownsendKathe Tracy, KennethViolet Waller, Gene & Mary Krueger

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Office & Men’s Shelter PO Box 11278 S Farwell StEau Claire, WI 54702(715) 552-5566

Ruth House 2517 Moholt DrEau Claire, WI 54703(715) 834-4000

Solomon Learning Center 2110 Western AveEau Claire, WI 54703(715) 514-4291

Bargain Center 2511 Moholt DrEau Claire, WI 54703(715) 839-9498

Building Hope 2108 Western AveEau Claire, WI 54703(715) 838-2084

Auto Sales 2615 W Moholt DrEau Claire, WI 54703(715) 830-0155

facebook.com/hopegospelmissionwww.hopegospelmission.org

New Location, More PossibilitiesThe Solomon Learning Center, Hope Gospel Mission’s center for education and job training recently moved to 2110 Western Avenue in Eau Claire.

Here are some benefits of moving to this more cost-effective location:

Employees, visitors, and tutors no longer need to feed the ▪meters or fight for a parking space. The new facility is right next door to Building Hope, which ▪helps save on the cost of transporting residents from the Learning Center to their on-the-job training.The new facility is also nearly twice the size of our old space! ▪Now when our financial advisor and chaplain want to meet with residents there is a separate, private space for this.Our old facility was in a basement. We now have windows in ▪this new building. What a blessing! This has already lifted student morale.More tutors can be in our facility at one time. ▪

Thanks to your financial support, we have also added a new employee who will be a job coach for our residents. He will be able to walk alongside our residents working at the Bargain Center and Building Hope and help them practice what they have learned in the SLC so they can become great employees. He will also spend time in the classroom tutoring residents in any of the basic skills they are working on.

Visit www.hopegospelmission.org and sign up for our email updates to find out when we will be holding our open house and ribbon cutting. ♦

Top: The new Solomon Learning Center. Bottom: Residents now have an improved area for studying, including a sky light in the computer room.

United Bank, with Collaboration from the John T Vucurevich Foundation, Donates $25,000United Bank, with collaboration from the John T Vucurevich Foundation, is proud to donate $25,000 to the Hope Gospel Mission for the Ruth House. Trevor Bohland, United Bank Senior VP commented, “United Bank recog-nized the dedication of the Hope Gospel Mission to transform the lives of so many in need in western Wisconsin. The Foundation honors and builds on John T. Vucurevich’s personal legacy of giving to facilitate solutions in the areas of arts, education, and health and human services.” The John T Vucurevich Foundation was pleased to support a project United Bank felt important for their banking community.